Damage feared at N.Y. parks with S.A. ties

By Beth Brown

Updated 10:02 pm, Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Two New York parks with San Antonio ties may have suffered damage from Hurricane Sandy.

The High Line, a public Manhattan park co-founded by San Antonio native Robert Hammond, closed Oct. 28 in anticipation of the storm and has not reopened, according to its Twitter feed. Representatives from the High Line are not responding to media inquiries due to power outages in the area, but an email update from co-founders Hammond and Joshua David states the damage to the park is still being assessed.

The High Line's offices are within the state's Zone A, which includes low-lying coastal areas that New York's Office of Emergency Management says face the highest risk of flooding and have already been evacuated.

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The email update from High Line says the park is without electricity, and once power is regained, it will assess any water damage done to the park's electrical connections. Those connections are located in utility vaults under the streets below the High Line, and were filled with salt water as the Hudson River spread during the storm.

Impact of the flooding has not been determined, according to the email.

Other than “a handful of small, uprooted trees,” the parks' planting beds, design features and artwork sustained minimal damage, according the email.

The Battery Conservancy, founded by San Antonio native Warrie Price, operates and raises money for Battery Park. The waterfront parkland closed Oct. 29 in preparation for the severe weather, according to the Battery Conservancy's Twitter feed.

The conservancy sent an email Wednesday stating “the historic Battery took the full force” of Sandy.

According to the email, the park lost three trees, the fountain is flooded and more than 90,000 square feet of gardens were covered in salt water, but the garden beds and plants remain intact. The conservancy's main offices are submerged in flood water.

“We have lost everything,” the email said. “All our electronics, furnishings and most importantly our archives and history of 18 years of work are gone.”